Steve's World Race Update

Folks – thought you might like to know that Steve arrived in Peru okay.  I just found out that the Director of the Mission himself (Seth Barnes) is part of the team!  Apparently he has long had a dream to make a ‘reality show’ out of the World Race so that others could see what they do, and chose this team to make it happen.  A former TV anchor from ESPN is the leader of the team and they will be documenting the work that Steve and his team will be doing over the next year – how exciting!  They have a camera crew along and will be making some kind of program. 

 

His first ministry is working in an earthquake disaster zone.  A severe 8.0 earthquake devastated an area south of Lima (Chichua) in August, and not much has been done to help the people.  Steve’s team will be heading down there this morning as I write this email.

 

I came across a journal entry from a current World Racer that’s been on serving for the last several months.  I thought you might like to hear a little bit of what Steve is in for…

“I'm sweating/freezing, tired, cramped, bored/too busy to see straight, eating poorly, showering seldomly, sleeping sporadically, suppressed in worship/not allowed to worship the Lord at all, surrounded by beggars and children with no clothes or mothers, living amongst a population that is 94% Buddhist/100% non-religious/etc, stared at (gawked at, actually), talked about, honked at, pointed at, ripped off, completely ignored, followed for crying out loud, sometimes lost (yes, only sometimes), allowed ~$8 a day to live on, communicating poorly in half a dozen different languages, slammed sardine-style into a train bunk for 30 hours, living in constant and disturbing proximity to lice, ticks, and mosquitoes, traveling without the comfort and security of my friends or family (save the WRs, of course), often living in a tent and cooking over a wood fire, carving down everything I own to under 45 pounds, and loving nearly every minute of it.

Why do I love it? What is this? This is the World Race.

This is me getting over myself; getting my walls and biases crushed. This is me getting my perspectives wrecked and my worldview eviscerated. This is me being obedient to the Father who sometimes forces His way into my soul and grabs my heart with His hands to balance perfect love and peace with the notion that you've got to be really left of center. This is me being totally transparent because it's pretty hard to lie to 25 accountability partners, but what I manage to sneak by them will come to light the next time I go to the secret and quiet place with my Dad.

All this so that I can spread a scandalous idea about Life and the Afterlife; to bring light to darkness, order to chaos, sight to the blind, hope to the lost, truth to all, a purpose to those seeking, and glory to an embarrassingly extravagant God. What a notion(!) that there is a Christ, a Savior, that breaks all chains and religion and governments; that restores hope and sheds grace and mercy to all who ask.”

Thanks for praying!

Pastor Bob

P.S. Keep up with Steve at www.stevewright.theworldrace.org

 

church stuff

Dear Folks – Hope your day is going well!

 

We got our son Steve off to his Missions trip with the World Race this morning (his plane left at 6:30am).  He will arrive in Ft Lauderdale at 12:30pm, meet up with his teammates and then leave on another plane at 4:30pm bound to Peru to help with earthquake relief (I think) and evangelism.  He’ll be there for the month.  He has raised about $8,000 so far and needs to raise about $6,000 more over the next 11 months.  He’s pretty excited!  His backpack weighed in at a little under 50 lbs (he had to pack everything he’ll need for the next year in there – including a tent, sleeping bag, supplies, clothes, coat, shoes, etc).  I’m not sure how he did it!  

 

I know he will appreciate your prayers and support.  He has a website specifically for the trip.  It’s www.stevewright.theworldrace.org.  You can keep up with his travels through pictures and videos, leave a message for him or make a tax-deductible donation if you want.  You can even sign up to be alerted when he posts something new on his page!  It’s interesting to see who else is on the team with him.  Pretty amazing people!

 

Also, I wanted to remind you that we are having a hot breakfast tomorrow morning at 9:30am at church.  Biscuits and Sausage Gravy and Hash browns! Yum!  Please come out for a time of fellowship! 

 

Also, we will be hearing from Andy and Ruth Bishop, our missionaries to Italy.  They will give an update of their ministry during Sunday School and then Andy will be sharing from the Word in the Morning service.  They are leaving for Italy shortly after the service.  I want them to be encouraged by your attendance and attention!  I also want to receive a special offering for them as they leave.  The Missions Committee decided to give them a gift of $500 from our Faith Promise Fund (thanks!), but it would be really nice to send them off with a special goodbye gift, too!

 

See you tomorrow at church (come for breakfast – if I can get up early to cook it, you can get up early to enjoy it J).

 

Pastor Bob

 

 

 

 

Church stuff

Hey folks – Hope you were able to enjoy the New Year with your family.  We had a good time with ours.  I wanted to give you a heads up on a couple of things.

 

First of all – even though Awana is cancelled for tonight (Wednesday), we WILL be having our Adult Bible Study.  We’re studying the book from Max Lucado – Facing Your Giants.  It’s a fascinating study on the life of David.  We are currently in Chapter 9  - “Plopping Points” – a great chapter about how to deal with the times when we feel ready to quit and just can’t go on.  If you’re currently involved in Awana as a worker, I’d love to have you join us at 6:00pm (a half-hour earlier than usual)!  We’ll also take time to pray for our church and the ministry here.  Please come!

 

Second – I wanted to THANK YOU for helping us to finish the year financially strong!  Because of some generous year-end gifts, we were able to finish $3,500 above our needed budget (that’s quite something considering we were almost $5,000 behind)!  Several local churches are struggling financially because of the weak Michigan economy.  Because of our faithful God and your generosity, we were able to meet all of our obligations and even have some money in reserve. 

 

Third – Our Nomination Committee has finalized the list of those who have agreed to serve (if elected) on our various committees and offices.  I wanted to include that list in this email (it is also posted on the bulletin board in the foyer).  Please pray for these individuals and consider who you would like to see serve in these positions.  At our Annual meeting on Jan 27^th, we will vote for those who will serve.  Thanks to those who have agreed to serve the Lord in this way!

 

2008 Nomination Committee Information

 

Church Officers:                                                                                                      Nominated for 2008

                Deacon                                                                                                                 Jared Burkeen

                                                                                                                                             *Doug McMullen

                Treasurer (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                                    *Stacie McMullen

                Clerk (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                                             *Jean Gall

                SS Superintendent (Elect 1 for 3 years)                                                  Derek Cochrane

                                                                                                                                                Jim Stewart

Other Officers:

                Asst. SS Supt. (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                               Marty Billau

                SS Secretary (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                              *Irene Hawkins

                Asst. SS. Secretary (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                     Sydne McMullen

                                                                                                                                                Kevin Shrouf

                Head Usher (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                               *Jim Hawkins

              *Marty Billau

Committees:

                Trustee & Finance (Elect 4 for 2 years)                                                    David Heath

                                                                                                                                                Robin Heath

                                                                                                                                                Ken Smith

                                                                                                                                                Dan Chamberlin

                CE Committee (Elect 1 for 2 years)                                                        *Jean Gall

Diane Stemen

                Missions Committee (Elect 3 for 2 years)                                            *Derek C.

                                                                                                                                                Jean Chamberlin

                                                                                                                                                Amy Smith

                Communion Stewardess (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                     *Jo Fetters

                                                                                                                                                Irene Hawkins

                Flower Chairperson (Elect 1 for 1 year)                                                *Jean Chamberlain

 

*Term is expiring

 

Well, that’s all for now.  Thanks for indulging me!  Hope to see you tonight at church!

 

Pastor Bob